This story is part philosophy, part tragic love story. It is the story of a spoilt rich brat that doesn't like that he came from a rich family. He struggled to find meaning in his life that didn't revolve around money growing up, and when he was ostracised to New York City, he portrayed and lived the life of a standard spoilt, rich playboy. Then he saw a singer, Alice, and fell instantly in love with her.

This is an interesting story that obviously shows what one might think of as the stereotypical inner turmoil of the “artist” type. You know, the melancholy feeling of not fitting in because their art drives them to be different. This feeling of a melancholic undertone in present during the entire book, even during what might be thought of as potentially happier times, such as the lovers' first sexual encounter.

The way the book is laid out, it flip-flops between sections of inner turmoil and awakening with dialogue and passive action sequences. To be honest, this wasn't my type of book. Despite of the fact that it was a quick, easy read, it had no affect on me whatsoever. However, I can see many people liking the story. Especially those that prefer books with a good dose of purple prose.

As a technical side, there are many confusing dialogues. This is because there are many times that it is not indicated who is talking, especially after paragraphs of the philosophical points. There are also a lot of typos that drove me to distraction, and I didn't quite finish the book (140/160 pages). I don't know if these typos are only present in the PDF version I received as my unofficial first reads copy or not.

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